STREET HAWKING AMONG CHILDREN IN MUSHIN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

  Street hawking is one form of child labour which is on the increase in many cities in Nigeria as a result of poverty and poor economic situations of many families. This paper seeks to investigate factors influencing street hawking among children in Mushin local government of Lagos state. The cross-sectional survey employed purposive sampling technique in selecting one hundred and fifty (150) children who were active in street trading. A well structure questionnaire subjected to both face and content validation by three experts was used for data collection. The study shows a significant relationship between frequency of parental conflict (X2 = 6.653; df = 1; p-value = 0.000), single parenting (X2 = 66.420; df = 1; P-value = 0.000), child fostering (X2 = 82.428; = 1; p-value = 0.000), hawking mothers (X2 = 8.568 = 1; p-value = 0.003) and child street hawking. It was concluded that frequency of parental conflict, single parenting, child fostering and hawking mothers were significantly related to Child Street hawking. It is recommended that both Nigeria government and other agencies concerned should put more efforts at reducing poverty through creation of more jobs, compulsory education for children and strict enforcement of child rights act.